The Duke/North Carolina Central University (NCCU) BIRCWH Program is designed to develop highly skilled researchers investigating women's health issues, with a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary scholarship. The Program will accomplish this through the following Specific Aims: Specific Aim 1: Provide BIRCWH scholars with didactic and experiential training in the conduct of women's health research across a wide spectrum of disciplines, with a focus on women's health across the lifespan. Specific Aim 2: Coordinate a comprehensive mentorship experience, with the defined outcome that each Scholar will submit at least one grant for independent funding during their BIRCWH tenure. Specific Aim 3: Engage Scholars in structured discussions designed to help them to achieve mastery of the principles and practices of interdisciplinary scholarship, and to apply them to their research. Specific Aim 4: Implement a newly designed strategy for identifying and recruiting minority Scholars. Specific Aim 5: Integrate the BIRCWH model into institutional programs that address the professional development needs of all research-oriented junior faculty members. The overarching theme for the Duke/NCCU Program will be women's health across the life-span, with areas of research interest that include maternal consequences of childbearing, conditions that affect women, and health care utilization and disparities. A group of experienced core mentors will support the Scholars, and a distinguished Advisory Committee will provide oversight as well as regular evaluations of the Program and Scholar progress. The collaboration between Duke and NCCU, a Historically Black University, will strengthen our goal of training minority scholars. The Program has significant institutional support as indicated by the Dean of the Duke School of Medicine continuing to serve as Principal Investigator, supplemental funding from the Duke Schools of Medicine and Nursing that will support an additional scholar, the active participation of our NGCU Co-Investigator in crafting an effective partnership, the Program Director's institutional role in women's health and faculty development, and the in-kind support provided through the Duke School of Medicine Office of Faculty Development. The Duke/NCCU BIRCWH Program is relevant to public health because it trains researchers whose work will lead to improved treatments for a wide range of conditions affecting women. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]